diff --git a/apps/appsets/argocd-operators-project.yaml b/apps/appsets/argocd-operators-project.yaml
index 1f2206dcc..2d486497e 100644
--- a/apps/appsets/argocd-operators-project.yaml
+++ b/apps/appsets/argocd-operators-project.yaml
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ spec:
   # kube-system is used by kube-prometheus-stack
   - namespace: 'kube-system'
     server: '*'
+  - namespace: 'opentelemetry-operator'
+    server: '*'
   clusterResourceWhitelist:
   - group: '*'
     kind: '*'
diff --git a/apps/appsets/components.yaml b/apps/appsets/components.yaml
index 47fc1bc2b..ce836c808 100644
--- a/apps/appsets/components.yaml
+++ b/apps/appsets/components.yaml
@@ -211,6 +211,13 @@ spec:
                     - repoURL: '{{index .metadata.annotations "uc_deploy_git_url"}}'
                       targetRevision: '{{index .metadata.annotations "uc_deploy_ref"}}'
                       ref: deploy
+                - component: otel-collector
+                  componentNamespace: otel-collector
+                  skipComponent: '{{has "otel-collector" ((default "[]" (index .metadata.annotations "uc_skip_components") | fromJson))}}'
+                  sources:
+                    - repoURL: '{{index .metadata.annotations "uc_deploy_git_url"}}'
+                      targetRevision: '{{index .metadata.annotations "uc_deploy_ref"}}'
+                      path: '{{.name}}/manifests/otel-collector'
             selector:
               # by setting the key in the elements 'skipComponent' to 'true' it will skip installing it
               # ArgoCD's templating operates with strings so it's the string "true"
diff --git a/apps/appsets/operators.yaml b/apps/appsets/operators.yaml
index 9a402acb0..b1bccc8e6 100644
--- a/apps/appsets/operators.yaml
+++ b/apps/appsets/operators.yaml
@@ -88,6 +88,25 @@ spec:
                     - repoURL: '{{index .metadata.annotations "uc_deploy_git_url"}}'
                       targetRevision: '{{index .metadata.annotations "uc_deploy_ref"}}'
                       ref: deploy
+                - component: opentelemetry-operator
+                  skipComponent: '{{has "opentelemetry-operator" ((default "[]" (index .metadata.annotations "uc_skip_components") | fromJson))}}'
+                  sources:
+                    - repoURL: https://open-telemetry.github.io/opentelemetry-helm-charts
+                      chart: opentelemetry-operator
+                      targetRevision: 0.79.0
+                      helm:
+                        releaseName: opentelemetry-operator
+                        valueFiles:
+                          - $understack/operators/opentelemetry-operator/values.yaml
+                          - $deploy/{{.name}}/helm-configs/opentelemetry-operator.yaml
+                        ignoreMissingValueFiles: true
+                    - repoURL: '{{index .metadata.annotations "uc_repo_git_url"}}'
+                      targetRevision: '{{index .metadata.annotations "uc_repo_ref"}}'
+                      ref: understack
+                      path: 'operators/opentelemetry-operator'
+                    - repoURL: '{{index .metadata.annotations "uc_deploy_git_url"}}'
+                      targetRevision: '{{index .metadata.annotations "uc_deploy_ref"}}'
+                      ref: deploy
             selector:
               # by setting the key in the elements 'skipComponent' to 'true' it will skip installing it
               # ArgoCD's templating operates with strings so it's the string "true"
diff --git a/operators/opentelemetry-operator/cert-manager-issuer.yaml b/operators/opentelemetry-operator/cert-manager-issuer.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2840846b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/operators/opentelemetry-operator/cert-manager-issuer.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
+kind: Issuer
+metadata:
+  name: cert-manager-issuer
+spec:
+  selfSigned: {}
diff --git a/operators/opentelemetry-operator/kustomization.yaml b/operators/opentelemetry-operator/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..32c095e78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/operators/opentelemetry-operator/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+resources:
+- cert-manager-issuer.yaml
diff --git a/operators/opentelemetry-operator/values.yaml b/operators/opentelemetry-operator/values.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..95c52433c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/operators/opentelemetry-operator/values.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+admissionWebhooks:
+  certManager:
+    issuerRef:
+      kind: Issuer
+      name: cert-manager-issuer
+manager:
+  collectorImage:
+    # The contrib image contains additional modules (i.e. exporters) that increase the compatibility
+    repository: "otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib"